Curiosity Killed the Cat

Reunion

Jason's POV

"Kat! YOU CAME FOR ME!" I shout, not even hesitating as I run to her figure in the forest.

"Jason! Don't--!" Naomi begins, but it's too late.

She turns around, stumbling back in surprise with wide eyes. I nearly tackle her as I wrap my arms around her.

I get a punch in the face. Her fist slams square in my jaw, sending me stumbling backwards. The force of the punch surprises me even more than the fact that she just punched me.

"Don't move," Kat growls, pointing a fancy looking gun at my head.

Her eyes are more alive than they were the last time I saw her, but still have that dead, grayish look in them. That's a good sign, maybe they've stopped torturing her almost to death.

"Kat, it's me," I laugh nervously, scratching the back of my head.

"I'll do it! I swear I will!" She yells, but her hands are shaking on the trigger.

Huh. This must be her first day as a soldier.

So they weren't bluffing...

No matter, those memories have to be in there somewhere.

Naomi creeps out of the foliage, only to be blasted at by Kat's gun, which shoots bright red lasers. It would've been cool if she wasn't trying to kill us.

"Hey!" Naomi yelps, just barely dodging.

I hold my hands up in surrender. "Easy, we don't mean to hurt anyone."

"Then why are you wearing a stolen soldier uniform? And why is she carrying a gun and grenades?" Kat demands.

"How'd you know that I wasn't one of you?" I ask.

She smirks. "Because of your smell."

I scowl. "I don't stink that bad, do I?"

Kat smiles and laughs a little at this, but stops herself and turns serious again. I guess they didn't change her too much after all.

"No... well, I don't know. If you didn't notice, I'm a soldier. All my senses are amplified ten times more than yours."

I flash a smile. "Cool. But you're a little small to be a soldier, don't you think?"

This makes her angry, and she starts babbling about some upgrade or whatever. As she does, I see Carter behind her along with Patrick, ready to pounce.

"Oh, and don't think I can't smell or hear your friends back there," she adds.

Patrick and Carter stop tip toeing closet and eye here with confusion.

Naomi seems to find some more bravery. "Well you're outnumbered. Drop your weapon."

"All of you need to leave this area immediately. Go back to your little caves," Kat orders, her eyes flashing with a dead seriousness I have rarely seen from her. Except this time, with much more intensity.

I can tell that even though she's outnumbered, she can easily call backup. So the best thing to do is wait. We will wait for the right moment to pounce out of the shadows.

"Fine," I reply, holding my hands up in surrender.

"Jason!" Patrick protests in shock.

I shoot a glare at him. "We're leaving. Now."

Kat's expression has a mix of relief and confusion set on it. She still points the gun at me. "You're lucky, you know. I should have shot you by now."

"Noted," I answer with a smirk. We all disappear into the trees, leaving her behind.

"I thought we were gonna... you know, catch her," Carter hisses.

"Jason's right. We need to wait for the best moment when they're all least suspecting it," Naomi decides.

Patrick shuffles his feet uneasily. "Don't you think Camp is much too close to The Walls to start this up again? They know exactly where we are and could kill us all at any minute."

He's right. Actually, we probably should've moved a long, long time ago. But we all are rather attached to the area, and not just because of the warehouse chalked full of bombs and weapons below us. But it's our home, and has been for our entire lives.

"We'll move farther into the mountains, deep enough where they wouldn't dare to venture," I say.

"And then what?" Naomi asks.

"We'll ask other camps and towns to help us bring down The Walls. No doubt they will once they find out about our bomb stash."

Yeah, you're probably wondering why we don't contact or mention those "other camps and towns" very much. Let's just say we're all not exactly tight with each other.